Authentic Writing a Memoir on Creating Memoir

by Fred Poole

This book is a collection of short, potent stories from the life of writer Fred Poole. Together, they present a radical approach to writing that challenges the status quo and offers powerful inspiration to all those interested in the art of writing -- beginners, veteran writers and everyone in between.

204 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2008

Reviews

[David Frazier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fred Poole, a journalist who's book writing career began in the 1960s, wrote slim volumes on Asian geography and history intended for high school libraries, pseudonymous softcore Asia sex guides (Taipei After Dark, Manila After Dark, Bangkok After Dark), and a novel of debauched Americans in Bangkok (Where Dragons Dwell, 1972) that he believed would launch him to a literary life, only it didn't. In all, he lived as an expat journeyman writer for around 30 years, finally publishing an "important book" on the 1980s people power movement in the Philippines and how the US supported the corrupt Marcos regime (Revolution in the Philippines: The United States In A Hall Of Cracked Mirrors, 1984). In his 50s, however, he gave up the expat life and moved back to the US, and this became a watershed period during which he reprioritized everything. It meant disavowing much of his wild expat days, the priorities he held high in those "career-forming years," and much of his writing-for-money published output. In his twilight years, he wrote this and one other fascinating memoir (The Aqua Mustang) on his lifelong journey to discover a path to authenticity in his writing. He reflects that the writings of his early life involved a lot of posturing, and that the real power of his personal truth rests in buried childhood traumas, which he must unpack and confront. These include the long shadow of his Pulitzer-winning novelist grandfather, suppressed childhood memories, family suicides, alcoholism, sexual abuse, finding his first talents in high school, his contempt for rightwing Princeton in the 1950s (this part is hilariously sarcastic), and much more. As he weaves his life story, one however begins to perceive him as fundamentally flawed, a man who for most of his life believed that the world was against him and could never bring himself to bury a grudge. At the same time, he's brilliantly sardonic, writes sparkling prose, and is honest enough to be provide insights that, even from a not-fully-reliable narrator, are worth taking to heart.